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News! Update on Disney’s New Rapid Fill Refillable Mug

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According to sources, Disney World will soon be bringing the new Disney Rapid Fill Refillable Mug program to Disney resort hotels.

Tested at All-Star Sports Resort a while back, and much like the process currently in use at Disney’s Water Parks, the new system would use an RFID bar code on each mug to give Disney guests access to refills for a pre-purchased period of time. The mug will then deactivate itself at the end of the purchased time frame.

But as of today, it’s looking more and more like the rumors may be true. Although at this time the Rapid Fill Refillable Program has not been confirmed by Disney, we have news today that the fountain machines at some beverage refilling stations at Walt Disney World resorts have been replaced with new machines that resemble those in a demo video by the company ValidFill.

The first set of photos are from the Beach Club Marketplace, where the machines were installed earlier this week.

Newly Installed Beverage Refill Station at Beach Club Marketplace

In this photo, you can see the small screen that provides the customer detailed information about their refill as it dispenses, as well as the trays below the fountain taps that reads the cup’s sensor.

New Beach Club Marketplace Refill Station — Up Close

The same set up is in place at All-Star Music Resort’s beverage refill station. The screens here are blank.

New Beverage Station Installed at All-Star Music Resort This Week

New All-Star Music Beverage Refill Station — Up Close

We received word that the machines have also been installed at the Contempo Cafe as well:

Contempo Cafe RFID Soda Machine

At this time, they are still functioning like the old machines. Reports are that it is “business as usual” and that guests can still use their purchased mugs currently. But we know that you have lots of questions, so let’s go over how the new Rapid Fill program will reportedly work.

How Will The Disney Rapid Refill Refillable Mug Program Work?

Refillable mugs will each have an RFID bar code that guests will scan at the soda fountains each time they refill their mugs.

Guests will be able to purchase mugs for a particular time frame, anywhere from one day to the length of their Disney stay. (Note that a “day” is considered one calendar day, not a 24-hour period. So if you arrive at 11:00pm and activate your mug, the first day will end at midnight that night.) Here is the current pricing:

$8.99 for 1 day $11.99 for 2 days $14.99 for 3 days $17.99 for length of stay (currently set at 14 consecutive days, but may be able to be manually extended by a Cast Member)

Disney World Refillable Mugs

According to sources, the mugs will be valid for use at ANY Disney-owned resort hotel in Disney World. However, guests cannot bring their mug back on return visits to use it again. A new mug must be purchased for each stay.

One piece of information that isn’t quite clear: if you have a split stay between two Disney resort hotels and have paid for the 14-day refill option, will you be able to use the mug at both hotels assuming the two stays fall within the 14 consecutive days? Sources say yes, but it remains to be seen.

Will the Disney Rapid Fill Refillable Mug Program Be Part of the Disney Dining Plan?

Should the Rapid Fill Program come to pass, it will be included on the Disney Dining Plan as refillable mugs currently are. Guests purchasing any Disney Dining Plan will get a Rapid Fill Refillable Mug.

When Will The Disney Rapid Refill Refillable Mug Program Begin?

The rumor is that the mug program will begin this month at Disney’s All Star Resorts and will quickly roll out to other Disney World resort hotels.

What if I DON’T Want a Refillable Mug?!

Guests who choose not to purchase a refillable mug will still use Disney’s standard paper cups. According to sources, these cups will be authorized for four refills at the soda fountains.

This information has NOT been confirmed or even mentioned by Disney, so we are classifying it as a rumor right now. If you have any other confirmed information on the new Rapid Refill Program, please let us know!

Also, here is the demo video that we mention above, so that you can compare ValidFill’s machine used in the demo with the machines that have been installed in a select number of Walt Disney World Resorts.

What are your thoughts on the potential Rapid Refill Disney Refillable Mug program? Let us know in the comments below.

Comments

At $89.95 for a famiy of five such (like ours) to have unlimited soda, it makes more sense to order a few cases of soda from Garden Grocer. Even with delivery, you are still paying less and aren’t limited to just Coke products. We aren’t big soda drinkers anyways, but the sticker shock still made me look twice. Might be cool to put those Coke machines in that do 600 flavors for a little more of an option if you are going to ask that much for refills. Let’s hope they don’t activate the machines at the Beach Club in the next ten days, we are leaving soon and I think I still have my mug from the early eighties kicking around.

If it was extended to the parks as well as the resort areas, it would be worthwhile.
Personally, and I know this will divide many people, I’m not sure about the hygiene factor of carrying a sugary, sticky empty cup about between restaurant sittings and general resort areas!

I’d also want to know a little more about security too, if a cup reaches the hands of someone with the right equipment, could they hack into data etc?

It seems a little far fetched, but hey, look at the extent people are going to to breach ATM security.

I’m all for cashless systems, but provided that they are safer than keeping a few dollars in your back pocket!

Are these contraptions on the coffee and iced tea machines too?? Also what about the water? Do you have to pay 8.99 to get water??? I am really fed up with the whole thing, I think it is ridiculous but that’s ok we will just bring our own soda.

I can say that I personally saw a drink station with the same type of screen at either Art of Animation or Pop just last week. It hasn’t been turned on yet, so at the time, I wasn’t sure if it was new or not.

I think this is truly a silly idea. I remember the first time we came to Disney, my husband thought it was crazy I paid about $14.00 for the refillable mug (Marathon weekend 2010.). This upcoming Jan will be our 7th trip & I can’t believe we will have to pay so much per day to fill the mug. You would think $15 per mug they are making a killing. To be honest with you, I think the selections of drinks provided isn’t that great anyway. I do enjoy my coffee in the morning but can make it in our room. We fly so we can’t really bring drinks with us. We LOVE Disney but with the already expensive trip, please Disney don’t stick it to us any more.

I can understand why it’s being done. Our last trip in October last year, we saw 1 lady going to fill her mugs and she had 8 to 10 mugs and none were bought this trip. They were all older, all had different designs with none purchased at least past 2005 because we have been most every year since then and never saw any like them. Some were the bigger around resort specific that has not been around in a long time. We have also seen people just stand in front of the fountain, filling their mugs, chugging them immediately, then repeating for long periods of time. Like they are the only person needing to use that area. While eating, we saw a person stand up there for 3 to 5 minutes doing that
They lose a lot of money with people abusing the system like that. So I can’t blame them for trying to stop it.
They could have just stopped selling the mugs completly and mame you purchase the bottles when you wanted something. So in the granx scheme of things, this really does not bother me. Just sayen.

So the thing that I’m curious about, if it’s good from resort to resort then can you take them and use them at Vero or Hilton Head if in the same trip time frame? My family had done trips in the past where we would do a week at Disney and go right from Disney to a week at Hilton Head. So basically it was within the 14 day time frame and would fit into everything they have said. I know this won’t matter to a lot of people but to some, it will or could.

I wonder if the DDP prices increased twice this year to account for the increase in the mugs.
At the end of the day, it looks like a company who already makes an enormous amount of money will make more. No matter how much WDW is our oasis, I have to keep reminding myself that it’s still in business to make money, and if I (like so many others) keep going back every year and spending more every year to do it, they will keep finding new ways to get more of my money. I totally get it, and I don’t at all bregrudge them. I just hope that in 10 years I can still afford the trips as their prices increase by much greater margins than my income.

Rather than the soda I am concerned with the water. My daughter drinks only water and a lot of it while at Disney. She also, like many people, cant’s stand Florida water. We were always able to fill a water bottle for her at the drink station to take to the park or drink in the room. Do I have to by a length of stay refill mug to fill our personal water bottles with water from the beverage station now?

BTW, I know I can buy water bottles at the food court, park or have them sent to my hotel from Garden Grocer. If it came to that I would just rent a car, buy water, stay off property and save a good deal of money in the end.

Personally, I drink ice water 95% of the time, so this really doesn’t bother me. Soda just makes you thirstier, so I just don’t see the appeal.
However, I love that this video mentions Dollywood, which I grew up visiting since it was 45 min from my hometown of Knoxville. I’m a Disney girl through and through, but Dolly’s parks are pretty impressive!

I’m not one to be upset by Disney making money either. How do people think they can afford New Fantasyland, California Adventure referb, (which it badly needed), or any other project that they want to do. If there is no profit, there is no Disney.

Susanne the lack of available ice water is what I’m concerned about. If you look at the new machines, the water dispenser is part of the new system. I’m hoping there’s an override to the chip system for the water dispenser.

These should also be allowed to refill in all the parks as well. They are charging enough money for this “convenience” and soda costs pennies to make. Additionally, it would be nice to be able to bring back a mug from a previous stay (even if it’s from here on out) and just reactivate the mug for that visit. For the many many repeat guests, this seems extremely wasteful.

I understand where Disney is coming for to a degree, I have seen guest at places like pizzasafri without a Disney cup or a purchased beverages use empty water bottles and fill the, with soda , just like the guest that park at downtown Disney for free ride the Disney buses and make resort guest stand

I personal think it is not a good idea. First place we stay in the parks all the time and only use the hotel for breakfast and maybe a late night drink when we get back. Drinks do not cost that much and the
fast food places like burger king, Macdonalds, chick fil a, etc. let you have all the refills you want free. What is the big deal at Disney? They get enough of our money without having to pay for refills. Tickets go up each year and when you come down to it a lot of people can’t afford to bring their families to Disney then here is an added expense for them. This new policy is not a good one. We will start to bring our own drinks, etc. Is coffee and tea included in the refills? A tea bag can make a lot of TEA. I am sorry that Disney has to feel that they have to do this as soda products in the machines are not much. I hope that the comments get back to Disney and they get the message that a lot of people do not like the idea. Thank you.

I agree with Melissa. I can understand why it’s being done. If people bring in old mugs and they don’t really have a good way of monitoring that, I can see the refillable mug program eventually ending. I think it’s just Disney’s way of monitoring the program. If you think it’s too expensive, don’t participate. But for those people who don’t have soda delivered and are staying for a good amount of days, the refillable mug can still be a bargain compared to the price Disney wants for 1 soda. 1 soda a day x 10 days can be well over $30.

We’ve been debating the purchase of the mugs for our upcoming trip and I just did some math. For a length of stay purchase it works out to about $1.50 a day for us which would basically mean that if we used the mug just once each day it would be a deal. With 3 teens and 2 coffee/iced tea loving adults I can see that happening really easily. Might have to consider it if this option is already in place when we arrive.

For a shorter stay (we’re splurging on this trip) I’m not sure it would be a logical purchase though as we aren’t generally folks who hang out at the resorts.

I love it. I think it’s a great idea. I have seen people that will use a mug from previous trips and not pay anything to use it. Not only is that incredibly tacky, it’s cheap. How they think that is acceptable or fair is beyond me. The refillable mug program is a great idea. Maintaining controls and fairness to all is important. I think that all will say that Disney provides excellent overall value.

I can see this being a response to the many people who bring back mugs year after year and use those instead of purchasing new refillable mugs for each visit. They are defrauding Disney by doing this and quite frankly, I’ve been surprised that Disney haven’t done something about it before now.
We always get water delivered by Garden Grocer as I don’t like the water sold onsite and it’s far cheaper to get it by the case. For my coffee though, the refillable mugs are excellent value, even at the new price.

#1 Ice water is readily available for free from every quick service location on Disney property (as well as other theme parks) that has a soda dispenser. All you have to do is ask for it. Unlike your local mall’s Dairy Queen, Disney won’t charge you a soda cup’s price for ice water if that’s all you want – but they WILL charge you if they notice you sneaking Sprite instead.

Also, the water that is available to you through the soda machines is (gasp) the same water that comes out of Florida water fountains and general taps. You’re not getting any “better” water that way.

#2 Refillable cups with RFID chips have been around the block for a while. Universal Orlando has had them with the Coca Cola Freestyle Cups for about two years now, and they’re very profitable. You don’t have to utilize them, but you are given complimentary unlimited refills for as many days as you’ve purchased the RFID-allowance, so there’s a cost-benefit to them that keeps guests satisfied. For someone who only drinks one glass of flavored beverage with a meal a day, standard soda cups are always available for sale.

#3 The major downside to the Resort Cups has ALWAYS been that they don’t extend to the four parks or the water parks. The current Resort Cups do not receive complimentary soda refills anywhere inside Disney Park property, but they can be used at any resort on Disney property during the length of stay. While you have always been able to bring them back, coming back with a cup that’s blatantly from 2-5 years ago often gets caught by CMs, who gently remind guests their out-of-season cup is not eligible for complimentary refills. Guests on property who participate in Disney Dining don’t worry about this, because the new and old Resort Cups are a part of this plan as an added value benefit.

#4 RFID chips for the Refillable Mugs don’t access personal data. They act as a switch-chip for the program that essentially reads as “Active” or “Inactive.” Active cups will fill up the premeasured amount; Inactive cups will not. You don’t have to worry about someone hacking into your RFID Refillable Mug and finding your name, personal information, or anything else. It’s not attached to you.

Disney is getting crazy. $15.49 for the mug is good enough. I think that less days to buy is not needed. I think ultimately the mug is a collectors item so just sell the mug and give the soda free. With the price of a park ticket so high and going up every year soda should not be an issue. Disney give your guests something in return or stop raising prices every year.

Not a good marketing move. Way too much money! This may turn out to be a loss for WDW, but what do they really care. They’ll make it up on first-timers not knowing any different. I also don’t like the chips. They are going to use chips in the bracelets too. Just another way for Disney to track everything you do. Boo! For those of us who bought them (me) and rarely used it, for large families, for extended stay guests, this is no longer a smart purchase. I think many families will go to WalMart and buy there own soda and refill their own mugs.

I don’t understand what the big deal is here? The mugs were $15. It’s $3 more, which in the grand scheme of all things Disney, is not such a bad price increase. I never reuse my mugs (we are DVC members and visit once a year) either…I buy new mugs for my family of 4 every trip. I feel like it’s the people who reuse their mugs every trip or reuse their mugs from other theme parks that cause Disney to have to make these changes.

We have personally experienced using them at the All Star Sports Resort in the past when they were testing them. For the water, coffee, and tea, you do not need these. It is a little tricky sometimes, and won’t let you refill the same mug right away. You have to wait a few minutes before you can fill it again. It shows on the display how long your mug is valid until. I personally did not like them, but I usually prefer to just drink the water, but my other family members used them.

I’m out! No mug for me. DVC dues are pricey as are annual passes. Then they take away the 20% discount. Disney is pricing even their most loyal fans out. I don’t drink pop but it was nice to have the option for powerade, lemonade or hot cocoa. I carry water in the park – that will continue! I admit I re-used my mug – some people used old styles from years ago. I will save the money and put it towards the pass price. I hope this helps them save tons of money on soft drinks that they receive for free from Coca cola.

With the machines being as smart as they are, there is NO question that water (and ice) will still be free. The spout that dispenses water will operate as if the RFID system were off. I’m all for Disney cracking down on the “unlimited” soda…..As a business owner, I completely understand Disney’s position here…..there comes a time when the freebies have to end. Sure, soda costs just pennies, but the actual delivery of the soda, plus the maintenance of the system, the constant cleaning from the messy guests, the cost of the ice machines….those are the issues that cost the “real” money. As a motel owner, I have to say that the electric bill just for our ice machine is a small fortune. Can’t imagine what it costs for Disney just to make ice for one day. It irks me when I see people filling cooler after cooler with ice from hotel ice machines, when the purpose of the machine is to fill your little ice bucket from your room. I can see why Disney retrofit all there ice machines so that only those little buckets fit under the dispenser-although I see people dumping those in their coolers, filling them over and over, leaving no ice for the next person that needs it. Prediction for the future-RFID tags will be put in our room buckets so that only one bucket is dispensed per hour. Anyway….there’s my soda/ice rant for the day. Go Disney…I support you on this one.

My family loves the mugs, we usually just get them with the dinning plan. We get new ones every year. We use them a little in the resort, but mostly we use them the rest of the year at home. For us it’s completely worth the money, and considering what we’d be paying for individual fountains or bottles the cost evens out for us. Also all the extra use after vacation really makes them worth it for us.

I love soda, but have been cutting down on it. Unless I get a free DDP and the mug comes with it, I’d rather just take my water bottle, refill it in the parks at kiosks and treat myself to a soda on and off. I’ve always been a big water drinker anyway, so like some of our other readers, I hope I can still get the water at my resort.

I’m not sure what the big fuss is about. Currently, the refillable mugs cost $15.49 plus sales tax. So, with the price increase, it will be a $2.50 increase for a length of stay mug. That’s not that big of an increase. If people don’t think this is a good deal for them at 17.99, they probably weren’t buying them at 15.49 either. We always do the dining plan when we go to Disney and the mugs are included in the dining plan, so for us, this works out well. It will be nice that we can use them at other resorts, but it would really be great if we could use them in the parks! I don’t anticipate that happening because I think that would definitely impact beverage sales at the parks. If this puts a stop to the people who violate the rules & bring back mugs from previous trips, I am all for it. Nothing irks me more than people breaking the rules & using the excuse that Disney makes enough money so they shouldn’t have to pay for the same things that everyone is paying for.

Sorry so many are mad. But seriously why? Because your now prevented from stealing soda? Did anyone ever think that if this wasn’t so abused by so many then the prices wouldn’t be so high? Just think of the mark up that was needed to install these machines. Way to go people.

I think this is complete crap. Fountain soda costs Disney next to nothing (or maybe nothing at all, I know that was their deal with Coca Cola at some point), they’re just being stingy. And I guess they lied about those “forever cups”.

According to what I have heard, you will be able to get water and ice for free. I’ve also heard that the program will be expanded to the theme parks. So you can refill your refillable mug at the theme parks. I have also heard that the QS meal will not include a drink since you get the refillable mug. The machines will dispense a certain amount and then there will be five minute delay before you can fill again.

Disney does not get the syrup from Coke for free. And they still pay for the maintenance and staff to take care of the machines.

If the mugs will be valid for use at ANY Disney-owned resort hotel in Disney World why would you not be able to use it at a split stay between two Disney resort hotels? Especially if you have paid for the 14-day refill option why should you not be able to use the mug at both hotels if the two stays fall within the 14 consecutive days?

I have never understood the mug refill debate. Disney could quite easily not offer a mug and charge $2-$3 per drink. I think the mug is a great deal. Especially in light of the other costs of my Disney vacation.

Unfortunately way too many people have taken advantage of the system and ruined it for the rest of us. Many fast food restaurants offer free refills for my beverages. However I would never bring back a cup from last year, let alone yesterday, and expect to refill it for free. I think that we all know that that would be called theft.

As someone previously posted, we have all seen the blatant abusers: old mugs, baby bottles, plastic water bottles, and refillable mugs from your local gas station. The arrogance is disturbing. We may feel that Disney is greedy but that does not justify committing a crime of theft. And I won’t even get started on the subject of those who argue that their 15 year old mug was purchased under the guise of lifetime refills for them and their grand children’s grandchildren.

My family and I are HUGE Disney fans. We have been DVC members for 15 years. Let us not forget that Disney is a business, and all about EPS and the bottom line. What will it take for guests to stand up to being nickeled and dimed to death? It’s not justifiable because we are on vacation. Anyone who knows anything about the hospitality business will tell you the most margins are made on beverages. With this new program they should lower the price for DDP and eliminate the mug. There are a number of grocery stores just off property where you can make purchases. We, the guests, just need to be smarter. Have a magical day!

A small family friendly park in southern Indiana, Holiday World, gives free soft drinks to park attendees throughout the park and in the restaurants, so it is hard to imagine that even though people bring mugs from past stays for free refills this is a big expense for WDW considering how much it costs to vacation there.

I don’t really understand the hub bub over this. The price of the mug went up a couple of dollars from last year. If somone in your family drinks a lot of soda it is worth it. The only that has changed is that people can’t steal. What I mean by that is use old mugs. It was never endless refills. Except for your length of stay. If ist extends to the parks, it makes up for that extra $$. I haven’t bought a mug in years. I make my own coffee in my room. I even used to bring a small coffee maker when staying at an all star.

Unlimited drinks at the resort are now MORE affordable for short stays. I typically use it once a day. I like the mugs, but I can’t justify $15.99 for my typical three day trip. If I could get it for less I’d happily bring home the souvenir mug.

Second, I think the main reason they are doing this is because of the amazing amount of mug abuse. They can’t be blamed for wanting to enforce the rules. Most of us have seen the stories of people who abuse the mugs. I’ve seen a mother fill her mug, then walk over to her family and fill up 3 water bottles with juice. I saw someone with a 5 year old cup. There is something about rulebreakers – they ruin it for everyone.

Don’t like it? Don’t use them. I’m not sure how much a drink costs in the resorts but let’s say $3. For the 14 day mug you’d only need to use it 6 times to recoup the cost. That’s not per day but over the entire 14 days. If you use it twice a day that brings the cost down to 65 cents a drink over those 14 days. So do the math and decide if you want to have drinks delivered, buy the mug, buy drinks separately, or do without.

I’m really confused with all the outrage and frustration regarding the new system? Can someone who is upset with change please explain why?

As side from the $2.50 increase, everything else is remaining exactly the same. The rules of the mugs in the past were that purchase of the mug entitled you to “free” refills for the duration of your stay. Also a sign clearly states that the mugs are for use AT THAT HOTEL for the duration of that visit.

So if in the past your were not cheating the system, then you don’t have any thing to be concerned about. If you did cheat the system and bring back mugs or use them at multiple resorts, then congrats b/c this change is a direct result of your (and others) actions. It’s really as simple as that.

For those complaining about Disney pricing and it going up every year, you do realize the cost for EVERYTHING goes up every year. Not just Disney parks. And Disney has a lot of cast members on payroll and they, like most other people in other jobs get raises every year to try to keep up with rise in cost of living. Just think about it, chefs, ride operators, retail, quick service, preformers, directors and everything else involved in stage preforming, buss drivers, mechanics, mousekeeping, most any job you can think of, Disney has cast members for it. And people are complaining about a 2.00 raise in cups and a 5.00 or so raise in ticket prices? Disney is not there to GIVE us anything. It’s a business, and if a business does not make any money, they go out of business. They also have to recoup money from other thefts. I have seen many times empty pin cards left laying in the store where someone had taken the pin, someone grab a bottled coke, or juice, or snack and walk out without paying for it. All kinds of examples. That kind of behavior hurts all.

I understand that the bottom line for any company is not to be in the red, but, come on. Nickel and dime-ing every ounce of soda guests drink is going a little overboard. While I do realize that some guests have been taking advantage of the free refills, there has to be a different way to eliminate waste and promote the integrity of resort guests who are on the up-and-up.